Combined billfold and coin purse



Oct. 18, 1955 D. B. JEFFERY 2,720,904

COMBINED BILL-FOLD AND COIN PURSE Filed March 25, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. DAV) B JEFFERY ATTORNEY Oct. 18, 1955 D. e. JEFFERY COMBINED BILLF'OLD AND COIN PURSE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 25, 1954 INVENTOR. DAV) B. JEFFERY ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 2,720,904 Patented Oct. 18, 1955 COMBINED BILLFULD AND CQIN PURSE David B. .leffery, West Bend, Wis, Leather Products Co., West Bend, of Wisconsin assignor to Amity Wis., a corporation This invention relates to improvements in a combination purse and billfold, and particularly to such billfold especially designed for use by ladies.

A billfold of this type folds about a transverse line and the folded halves are releasably secured together to keep the side opening to the billfold compartment closed. The purse of such billfold, however, does not fold about such line and may be opened without unfolding the billfold for the dual purpose of removing change therefrom and paper currency from the bill compartment.

Heretofore, such billfold has incorporated hinged metal frames to define first an end opening to the bill compartment and second an opening to the coin purse. Such members made the billfold ungainly in appearance and did not permit sumciently wide opening to make the contents of the bill compartment and coin purse easily available.

One of the objects of this invention, therefore, is to provide such a billfold which has the end opening to the bill compartment and the opening to the coin purse easily accessible upon the disengagement of a single snap lock.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a billfold which is of nice appearance and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

In obtaining these objects a gusseted purse is secured to the inner wall of the bill compartment so that the opening to such purse is at one end of the billfold. An end opening is provided in such inner wall at such end from which bills may be removed endwise from the bill compartment. A two part metal frame has one bridge secured to such end of the billfold and the other bridge secured to the free end of such coin purse. The pivoted legs of such frame are unattached to any part of the purse or its gussets. A lock on this frame frictionally holds such ends together closing access to both bill compartment and coin purse. However, upon disengaging this lock both bill compartment and coin purse are made accessible. The use of gussets and the nonattaching of the legs of the frame cooperate to provide a wider opening and permits the billfold to be held to smaller thickness while enhancing its appearance. By attaching only the bridge of the metal frame to the ends of bill compartment and coin purse unnecessary assembly time is eliminated.

The characteristics and applications of this invention may be best understood by the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing a billfold and coin purse embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the longitudinal plane of the combined billfold and coin purse viewed in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the two part metal frame constituting a part of the combined billfold and coin purse viewed in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of such metal frame taken from the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is an exploded plan view of the blanked pieces used in such combined billfold and coin purse.

The billfold and coin purse shown in the drawings is made of leather or other flexible material adapted to withstand the customary wear and abuse to which it is subjected. The bill compartment 10 is made from a blank 12 shaped as shown in Fig. 6 and folded to form an inner wall and outer wall unattached along the upper edge thereof to form the side opening to such compartment. In the drawings the short broken lines indicate stitching or the lines along which stitching is to be placed in assembly. The long broken lines show where the material is folded upon itself to form a smooth grain face edge, as is the general practice in this art. The blank 12 has spaced wings 14 and 16 and an intervening tab 18, all of which are parts of the inner wall. Such blank also has a tongue 20 which is folded over the wing 16 and inserted in a slot 22 in such wing to close up that end of the bill compartment.

An end opening 24 in the wing 14 leads to the bill compartment. Such opening has a flap 26 which may be sprung outwardly of the bill compartment to enlarge said end opening and expose the bills for easy grasping and endwise removal.

The central part of the inner Wall is formed by a separate slide 28 one end of which is attached to the wing 16 by a flexible fabric 30. This slide is relatively movable in a pocket formed by the wing 16 and a flap 32 stitched thereto and folded over into the bill compartment with its grain surface exposed within such compartment. When the billfold is opened and closed by folding, the resultant increase and decrease in length of the inner wall is accomplished by such relatively movable slide.

A paper liner 34 may be glued to the inner face of the wing 16 to cover up the tongue 20. It is also helpful to use a double face glue strip between tongue 20 and the outer face of the wing 16 to secure these members in final assembly.

A coin purse 40 is mounted on the inner wall of the billfold adjacent the end opening 24 so that the same closure mechanism for the coin purse will function to close access to such end opening. The coin purse is made from a blank 42 shaped as shown in Fig. 6. Such blank has a bottom projection 44, and a pair of gusset forming extensions 46 projecting from each side of the blank. Each of these extensions form double gussets 48 and 50. Extending between the gussets on opposite sides is a divider 52 which cooperates with the gussets 48 and the blank 42 to form the coin purse 40. When the coin purse is closed this divider covers the end opening 24. However, when the coin purse is opened the gussets 50 allow the divider 52 to be swung away from the end opening 24 and provide easy access to the bill compartment. However, with the coin purse closed, coins in the coin purse cannot be transferred into the end opening 24 and hence into the bill compartment 10. There is thus obtained both a positive closure between coin purse and bill compartment and an easy access to either. The ends of the extensions 46 are stitched to the wing 14 adjacent the sides of the opening 24. The bottom projection 44 is folded underneath the Wing 14 and it and the outer edge of the slide 28 are held to such wing by the same stitching. A flap 54 may be stitched to the outer side of the blank 42 and provided with a female part 56 of a snap fastener. In the folded condition of the billfold this female part will engage a male part 58 on the outer wall of the billfold to maintain the billfold in such condition.

A feature of this invention is the unique method of providing a single snap lock for the coin purse and the end opening for the bill compartment. A two part metal frame has bridges 60 and 62 each of which has a pair of legs 64. These legs terminate in perforated flattened ends pivotally connected by rivets 66 or the like so that the bridges are constrained to move toward and away from each other while remaining substantially parallel. Each bridge is channel shaped and the inner or confronting sides are slightly deeper than the outer sides. The legs are rigidly secured to the ends of the bridges in the manner illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. For appearance sake the legs are cylindrical in shape. While other shapes may be employed, it is essential that the legs be not connected to the gussets of the coin purse. The outer end of the coin purse (in cluding the flap 54 if used) is seated in the channel of bridge 62 and held by a proper adhesive. In this case the length of such bridge is slightly greater than the width of the coin purse so that such purse will fall wholly between the legs 64. The bridge 60 has adhered in its channel projections 68 (see Fig. 6) on the inner and outer wall of the billfold and of less length than the width of the billfold. Such projections are necessary because the bridges are shorter than the width of the outer wall of the billfold. Hence, in the folded condition of the billfold the legs 64 lie within the outer edges of the outer wall. They are not visible when the billfold is viewed in side elevation. This has the advantage of protecting the legs of the frame by the smooth edges of the folded billfold and preventing such legs from hooking or engaging with parts of a handbag or contents of such handbag when the billfold is placed in or withdrawn such handbag. It also enhances the attractiveness of the combined purse and billfold.

The bridge 60 has a cylindrical member 70 provided with a tip 72 which frictionally seats in a socket (not shown) in a cylindrical member 74 secured to the bridge 62. By applying hand pressure to the members 70 and 74 from opposite directions the tip 22 may be seated or unseated from the socket. Because the legs 64 are unconnected with the gussets of the coin purse the bridges 60 and 62 may be swung apart to the full extent reached when the legs of one bridge are parallel extensions of the legs of the other bridge. This is easily accomplished without strain and without deformation of the coin purse parts. Such wide opening thus obtained permits easy access to the end opening 24 to select and withdraw bills endwise from the bill compartment. Such Wide opening also permits easy access to the coin purse. However, if it is desired to obtain access only to the coin purse, the bridges 60 and 62 need not be separated to such full extent. By manually retaining the divider 52 against the inner wall, a partial separation of the bridges will provide full access to the coin compartment 40.

What I claim and desire to secure by this patent is:

1. In a combined purse and billfold, a foldable bill compartment formed by an inner wall and an outer wall secured along both ends and one edge thereof and providing an entrance along the unattached edges for insertion of bills, said inner wall having an opening spaced from a first end of said bill compartment and leading to said compartment, a purse forming wall overlying said opening and secured to said inner wall, gussets extending between said purse forming wall and the sides of said opening to form a coin purse, a second end of said purse forming wall being free and positioned opposite said first end to provide an opening to said coin purse, and a two part metal frame having lockable bridge members each of which has a pair of legs, the legs of one part being pivoted to the legs of the other part, one bridge member secured to said first end and one bridge member secured to second end to provide a closure for said coin purse, said legs being free of and spaced outwardly of said gussets.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which said bridge members are shorter than the width of said outer wall and greater than the width of said purse forming wall whereby said legs are spaced outwardly of said coin purse and inwardly of the outer edges of said outer wall in the folded condition of said billfold.

3. In a combined purse and billfold, a foldable bill compartment formed by an inner Wall and an outer wall secured along both ends and one edge thereof and providing an entrance along the unattached edges for insertion of bills, said inner wall having an opening spaced from a first end of said bill compartment and leading to said compartment, a first purse forming wall overlying said opening and having one end thereof secured to said inner wall, a second purse forming wall positioned between said first purse forming wall and said inner wall, gussets extending between said first and second purse forming walls to form a coin purse, a second end of said first purse forming wall being free and positioned opposite said first end of said first purse forming wall to provide an opening to said coin purse, and a two part metal frame having lockable bridge members each of which has a pair of legs, the legs of one part being pivoted to the legs of the other part. one bridge member secured to said first end of said bill compartment and one bridge member secured to said second end of said first purse forming wall to provide a closure for said coin purse, said legs being free of and spaced outwardly of said gussets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,298,543 Schmidt Oct. 13, 1942 2,428,707 Hardy Oct. 7, 1947 2,613,716 Jeffery Oct. 14, 1952 seni 

